[Pliny the Elder] used to say that “no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it.” Pliny the Younger

June 11, 2007

neoplatonism and julian the apostate

The religion that Julian was trying to promote as a rival to Christianity was more than the rituals of the traditional Greek and Roman worship of the gods, it was highly influenced by the Neoplatonic philosophies proposed by Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus. Neoplatonism is a modern name for the schools of thought based on Plotinus' interpretation of Plato's writings and his attempt to synthesise them with other, later, philosophical schools.

Very basically, the idea was that the Divine was so caught up contemplating its creation that some parts got trapped inside the creation and now have to find their way back through the study of philosophy. How exactly this was to be done differed from writer to writer. Iamblichus invoked the aid of the gods, who were supposed to be parts of the Divine who were less trapped than humans, using a technique called theurgy.

Of course, there was a lot more to it than that, and the
Neoplatonists have attracted more than their fair share of those with
very individual views of history, philosophy, and religion.

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neoplatonism and julian the apostate

The religion that Julian was trying to promote as a rival to Christianity was more than the rituals of the traditional Greek and Roman worship of the gods, it was highly influenced by the Neoplatonic philosophies proposed by Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus. Neoplatonism is a modern name for the schools of thought based on Plotinus' interpretation of Plato's writings and his attempt to synthesise them with other, later, philosophical schools.

Very basically, the idea was that the Divine was so caught up contemplating its creation that some parts got trapped inside the creation and now have to find their way back through the study of philosophy. How exactly this was to be done differed from writer to writer. Iamblichus invoked the aid of the gods, who were supposed to be parts of the Divine who were less trapped than humans, using a technique called theurgy.